So, I’m embracing the ever-evolving world that we live in, and I’m trying something brand new…my first Kickstarter is now live!
Dark and Broken Things Kickstarter
I’m not going to lie, this whole author thing has been quite a heady experiment. I decided to pursue my passion at a very interesting time in the industry, and honestly, while it’s been thrilling, I’ve just been trying to keep up.
First, there was the eBook – the Kindles and Nooks and iBooks of the world – which helped bring self-publishing to the masses, then print-on-demand programs (POD) such as CreateSpace which put the production of physical books into the hands of authors as well, and then audio programs like ACX which is doing the same for audiobooks.
Releasing Geddy’s Moon was awesome. Getting positive feedback from readers, the wonderful reviews, being named one of the Best of 2013 by Suspense Magazine…it’s all music to an author’s ears. But, while it’s been a personally gratifying road, it hasn’t exactly been a profitable one.
Don’t get me wrong, it truly is a glorious time to be an author and one of the things I love about it is the control we have over our own work, our own image, and our own path. That means control not only to publish as we see fit, but to demolish the lines, the barriers, between author and reader.
So, when I sat down with my “team” (and God bless you, people) to decide how we would go about financing the release of my newest book, Dark and Broken Things, we realized that I should make an attempt to bring the reader into the process more, to let them be an extended part of the gang. With that goal in mind, crowdfunding became a no-brainer. And that’s exactly what we chose to do.
Come along, and join me in this experiment, friends and readers, and let’s see how the sausage is made!
To date, the book has been written (a surprisingly small part of the overall process), and the only part that is, more or less, solitary for me. It has also been edited, which means several steps. First, my developmental editor, Naz, reviews the book and gives notes about structure, character, and flow. After those notes are incorporated, we do a focus group with a handful of readers, both known to us (previous readers of Geddy’s Moon, for example) and new to the process. They are encouraged to provide feedback, and that feedback is reviewed and then incorporated. Finally, my copy editor, Terrie, scours the book for grammar and spelling errors.
Past that, we’ve only reached out to the talented Scott Zambelli to create cover art, and the equally talented Grant England to create a logo design, and that’s where we’re at.
There’s a helluva lot more to do, and Kickstarter will (hopefully) enable us to do it. The plan is to continue to update you about the progress here as we move forward, and to bring you along on the journey. First, please support the effort by pre-ordering the book through Kickstarter and sharing the link to the campaign.
Here is that link again, for easy copying: http://bit.ly/dbthings
Next up on the agenda: to continue driving readers to the Kickstarter campaign, to continue designing collateral materials and book jackets, and to begin recording the audiobook version of the book.
Keep watching this page…I’ll keep you updated! (And if I don’t, you have my permission to kick me in the shins next time you see me!)